«فَقَالَ لِمَنْ يَلِيهِ: مَا الْكِتَابُ الَّذِي تَنْظُرُ فِيهِ؟»
He asked the man beside him, “What book are you reading?”
Fa-qāla li-man yalīhi identifies a neighbouring individual as the first addressee, not the entire gathering. A small conversational opening becomes the gateway to a larger literary encounter.
Mā al-kitāb seeks concrete information, unlike an interrogative rebuke. The relative clause alladhī tanẓuru fīhi identifies the book by the neighbour's current activity. The speaker builds his next move from what is already visible.
Practice: Why is the book’s title a suitable answer? Because the question genuinely requests identification.